Mexican Open hopes to have Federer in 2018 draw

Los Cabos (Mexico), Aug 7 (IANS) The Mexican Open in Acapulco, an ATP 500 event, is negotiating to have Swiss great Roger Federer in the draw next February, when the tournament will celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Federer, who has won a record 18 Grand Slam titles, turns 36 on Tuesday and is playing some of the best tennis of his career this year, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon, reports Efe.

“It depends on his schedule and if he wants to come, I don’t see it as a financial issue. We have a great relationship with Tony Godsick, Roger’s agent, but we have to wait,” tournament director Raul Zurutuza said.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who has a shot at regaining the No. 1 ranking this month, won titles in Acapulco in 2005 and 2013, and appears likely to play in the Pacific resort city in 2018, Zurutuza said.

“I think something is missing from the tournament if Rafa’s not there and that’s not good because people like to watch him and he likes Mexico. I can almost say that he’s signed for 2018,” Zurutuza said.

The Mexican Open, the top tournament in Latin America, hopes to celebrate its 25th anniversary with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Britain’s Andy Murray and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, among other top players, in the field.

“We’re working on it, we have instructions to have an appropriate and responsible party, and we have to see how to square things,” Zurutuza said.

The 2018 event in Acapulco will continue to focus on meeting the needs of players, fans, sponsors and the media, the tournament director said.

In response to a question about what the tournament needed to do to improve, Zurutuza noted that the men’s event was celebrating its 25th anniversary and he hoped to bolster the field for the women’s side.

“We already brought Venus Williams twice, we’d love to bring Serena, but I don’t know if it’s the right time. We want to bring the women’s championship up to the level of the men’s,” Zurutuza said.